Slow FFTH 1Gbps Orbi rbk23

The RBK23 system connects satellites to the router in one of two ways:

• Using a 5GHz WiFi channel (the default), or
• Using Ethernet cables (for those fortunate enough to be able to provide the wiring).

The Product Data Sheet shows that the maximum theoretical throughput between router and satellite is 866MB/s:

https://www.netgear.com/images/datasheet/orbi/RBK23.pdf 

This can be achieved only when the satellite is (literally) a foot away from the router.  As the distance increases and the signal must penetrate walls, the signal level falls (and falls).

My RBR50 system has a maximum theoretical backhaul connection speed of 1,733MB/s, yet the three satellites I have connected to it report:

• 866MB/s
• 780MB/s
• 780MB/s

That single 5G WiFi channel must be shared between the three satellites.  When any radio transmits (router or satellite), then the other three units must wait for their turn to use the radio channel.

Plus, WiFi has a greater overhead than Ethernet.  Radio time is consumed by Beacon frames (in your case as many as 40 per second) and other overhead.

There is a way to learn the actual connection rate of your satellites:

• Download and install a Python script to enable telnet on the router.
  https://github.com/bkerler/netgear_telnet 
• Open a telnet program (such as Windows built in telnet.exe or PuTTY) on the PC.
• Connect to the router by IP address (usually 192.168.1.1, or 10.0.0.1)
• Log in using the web browser credentials ("admin" plus password)
• Type the command:
  satelliteinfo  wifi

The way to get higher performance is to connect any (or all) satellites to the router with Ethernet cable.  This is simply not practical for most people.